As students' aversion to soldering intensifies in the school curriculum, hardware education is being replaced with blueprints or simulations; however, as a result, students graduate and become developers, feel a lack of proficiency, and end up going to private academies to learn soldering again. It is an unfortunate reality that the educational environment is better at schools.

Recent reporting by this publication regarding hardware education in the Department of Electronic Engineering at the College of Engineering revealed that students' soldering education is facing difficulties.

A professor interviewed by this publication reported that, in order to provide proper hardware education, he has students implement actual circuits by soldering on PCBs and intentionally break the resulting products to find errors and fix the problems by soldering, but student participation is gradually decreasing.

This means that while the problem-solving process is difficult, students also dislike soldering.

According to the professor, students tend to avoid practical classes, such as soldering, because their primary goal is to earn good grades.

The professor mentioned that class participation is low because he does not give grades for soldering, and that he is receiving complaints from students in the course evaluations. Rather, professors who try to provide proper education to students are being shunned by them.

It is said that some professors often substitute soldering with blueprint or simulation training, and there are even rumors circulating among professors that soldering training is prohibited.

Accordingly, this newspaper directly inquired with the Career and Vocational Education Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and the results showed that there were absolutely no issues with the soldering education.

On the contrary, in the case of specialized high schools, it was found that soldering education was implemented in 18 schools within Seoul in 2024, in accordance with the school-specific curriculum and practical training operation plans under the 'Elementary and Secondary Education Act' and the Ministry of Education notification.

In addition, it was found that to ensure student safety during practical training, relevant guidelines under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, the Act on Prevention and Compensation of School Safety Accidents, the School Health Act, and the Framework Act on Student Safety are applied, making safety education, including safety rules within laboratories and practice rooms, mandatory during soldering practice.

In addition, it was stated that through the Office of Education's health management support program, workplace environment measurements are being conducted for all laboratories where exposure to hazardous substances is a concern, including the soldering lab in the electronics department, and special health examinations are being carried out annually for students and teachers in the relevant laboratories.

Therefore, it is clear that soldering education at specialized high schools and universities is a legally permitted curriculum.

In conjunction with this phenomenon, it has been found that entry-level hardware developers who graduated from electrical engineering are attending private academies to improve their problem-solving skills, which are often lacking during the development process, and are actually participating more actively in training that involves practical soldering.

Rather, in terms of competent faculty and safety aspects such as ventilation, the schoolAlthough the school is superior, proper education is not being provided due to misinformation and students' avoidance.

Of course, lead is a heavy metal that can have serious effects on the human body, so it is a substance that requires safety management.

Accordingly, they stated that they are ensuring safety and conducting education through mask-wearing and the installation of ventilation systems, and that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, along with other city and provincial offices of education, are frequently inspecting the safety management status of the practice rooms.

Despite these risks, the reason we must proceed with soldering training is that it is an essential course for accurately understanding hardware, including electronic circuits and electronic products.

In particular, for hardware, solving various problems such as EMI (electromagnetic interference) and power supply design requires the ability to directly assemble, disassemble, and modify electronic components like ICs, capacitors, and resistors on an actual PCB; however, if one cannot solder, one cannot even begin.

Professors in electrical engineering unanimously agree that since years of experience are required for hardware development and troubleshooting, while it is important for students to handle simulation tools, they must also become familiar with the most basic soldering techniques to enable them to freely modify circuits on actual PCBs.